Myth-makers : Old and NewRomila Thapar THE NEW COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY By C. Scott-Littleton University of California Press, Berkeley, 1975, xi plus 271, 3.65 ASCETICISM AND EROTICISM IN THE MYTHOLOGY OF SIVA By Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1971, xi plus 316, 50.00 VOLUME I NUMBER 3 July - September 1976 The study of myth has undergone a sea-change
since the mid-nineteenth century when it came into vogue. Between Freud and
Levi-Strauss it is now open to a vast span of interpretation. Not all the points
along this span have as yet encroached on to the study of Indian mythology, but
as these two books
under review indicate, the impact is certainly beginning to be felt.
When Max Muller first analysed
Indian mythology, it was in terms of the then current fashion of seeing
mythical personages, gods and heroes, in terms of natural phenomena such as the
sun, the moon, the dawn and so on. Thus the famous legend of Pururvas and
Urvashi which, as a theme, was repeated ad infinitum through the
variety of Sanskrit literature, was interpreted as a nature myth symbolizing
the disappearing Dawn chased by the Sun in the early morning. The association
of myths with solar symbols and events was particularly popular at the time.
Max Muller's theories were
convincingly debunked by Andrew Lang who demonstrated that the solar mythology
and naturist analysis derived more from the preconceptions of those studying
the myths than the cultural contexts of the myths would allow. Muller's
theories did not survive the twentieth century, except in India where they
continue to hold ground among those who are unaware of the post-Muller
dimensions to the study of mythology.
Frazer’s The Golden
Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, made the next impact with its stress
on the relationship between natural and, supernatural phenomena. The theme of
the dying god or the ritual sacrifice of the king is frequently referred to in
recent writings on Indian ritual and myth. Frazer in turn gave way to a more
sharply sociologically oriented approach to mythology. In the study of Indian mythology
it is perhaps Georges Dumezil who stands as the inheritor of both the
traditional interpretation and the new approach. The latter was largely due to
the fact that he was influenced by Durkheim and it is claimed that there are
elements even of structuralism in Dumezil’s analyses. If the Muller-Lang
debate lasted for two decades and resulted in the toppling of existing
theories, Dumezil stands as an equally controversial figure, the centre of a
vehement and articulate debate among those working on Indian mythology and
religion. But curiously, the debate so far ... Table of Contents >> |